Trucks, taxis block Paris motorway in fuel protest

Dozens of lorries and taxistravelling at a snail's pace blocked a major motorway leadinginto Paris on Tuesday in a protest against high fuel prices. The slow-moving convoy set off at around 7.00 a.m. (0500GMT), just as the rush hour traffic was picking up, and swiftlysnarled a major route leading to the La Defense businessdistrict, highway authorities said. In a separate protest against the rising cost of diesel,hundreds of farmers used their tractors to block access to thelargest fuel depot serving France's second city Lyon. French fishermen, truckers and farmers have staged countlessprotests over the past month to force the government to helptheir businesses overcome high prices at the petrol pump. Protests have also spread to other European countriesincluding Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal.